Wyden probes a patient advocacy group over its ties to opioid makers

Amid the ongoing opioid crisis, a U.S. lawmaker is pressing a professional medical society that also functions as a patient advocacy group to disclose detailed information about its ties to drug makers over concerns it tried to sway government moves to curb opioid prescribing.

In a March 12 letter, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) instructed the American Academy of Pain Medicine to provide a raft of documents, including tax filings; a list of payments from drug and device makers made to the group and its top officer; information about work performed for opioid maker Purdue Pharma; continuing medical education coursework; and its conflict of interest policy, among other things.

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